Running a restaurant is a notoriously busy job. It’s essential that your kitchen is functioning smoothly and efficiently so you can ensure the best possible food quality and customer service experience for your customers without creating unnecessary hassle or stress for your staff. A well-run kitchen can make be the make-or-break factor that defines the success or failure of your enterprise. Use these tips to make sure your restaurant’s kitchen is running like a well-oiled machine, rather than causing chaos for your business.

Install an effective grease filtering system.

Cleaning the exhausts and ducts in your kitchen vents and equipment can take time away from staff that could be used to get your food out on time. Without a proper filter, you’re also putting your business at risk of fire hazards as well as harming the environment through over-use of water and energy. An installation from Shepherd Filters will leave you with a kitchen canopy that keeps your space clean, efficient, and eco-friendly.

Plan your menu with the kitchen in mind.

It’s easy to get carried away with your dream menu and forget about how easy it will be to execute and deliver these dishes in a cost-effective and timely manner. Incorporate dishes into your menu that are practical as well as delicious. They should include ingredients you can always have on hand, as well as items that fit your budget. It’s also crucial that your kitchen staff can deliver great quality when it comes to every dish on your menu – so make sure you can really produce what you’re promising before you put the option out there for your customers.

Know your inventory system.

Without a solid inventory system in place, things can easily fall apart behind the scenes at your restaurant. Delegate the responsibility of stock-taking to a trusted and organised staff member, and make sure the check-up takes place on a regular basis and that any items running low are re-stocked immediately. If you find that certain items are always fully stocked, this could be a great opportunity to re-consider particular recipes or dishes on your menu to reduce the amount of waste your kitchen produces.

Get the layout right.

The layout of your kitchen will be key to its efficiency, as well as the quality of the food that comes to your guests’ tables. Every restaurant kitchen should have separated work stations for various tasks – even a small kitchen needs to have some separation in place to prevent contamination of foods and frustration coming into play when too many kitchen staff members are crowded up against each other trying to do their job in a cramped workspace. When considering where the head chef will work, make sure they have the right proximity to everything they’ll need to make their job easier. In many cases, a happy chef means a happy kitchen.

Use free time as prep time.

There isn’t really such thing as free time in a busy kitchen. If there’s nothing much going on and the restaurant isn’t open yet, your staff should be busy at work prepping all of the essential ingredients for the customers yet to come. The more prepping they can achieve before the cooking begins, the less stress your staff will have come rush hour.